Gatsby's "West Egg"

GATSBY'S "WEST EGG" AND THE "SLENDER RIOTOUS ISLAND" IN THE 1920S

Natalie Naylor, Ph.D
F. Scott Fitzgerald wrote The Great Gatsby while living in Great Neck. His narrator, Nick Carraway, called Long Island "that slender riotous island." Back in the 1920s, in contrast to Gatsby's East Egg and West Egg of Gold Coast mansions, much of Long Island was agricultural, with seaside settlements attracting summer visitors. Natalie Naylor, Ph.D. discusses this pre-suburban Long Island that saw the dawn of aviation, rumrunners and Ku Klux Klan parades. This lecture, funded by the New York Council for the Humanities, is free with museum admission but reservations are required. Space is limited. Reserve at nassaumuseum.org/events.